Professional Pirate: A Swashbuckler Story
by Marcus Emrys
Summary: Jack Englund lost his parents during a horrible storm and raised by his surrogate uncle, Milo Graytail. One day however he went missing and no one heard from him for a year. Now he's back, smarter than before, and is about to be pulled back into the pirate life he thought he left behind. Based on the Pirate101 game with some Wizard101 references only.
1. Chapter 1

**New story I had on my mind for a while. I love the game and I even made a Swashbuckler with the name 'Clever Jack Englund' just to get this right. No offense to Wizard101 but i like this game a lot better, and for those of you who never played the game these are the worlds and what they're based off of:**

**Skull Island: the Caribbean **

**Monquista: Spain**

**Valencia: Renaissance Italy**

**Cool Ranch: Wild West North America**

**Marleybone: Great Britain **

**Polaris: mix between France and Russian but the accent is French**

**Aquila: Ancient Greece**

**MooShu: Imperial Asia and Japan**

**Chapter I:**

**Once a wizard always a pirate**

The Spiral.

Home to dozens of worlds all splintered from the first world after the raging battles between the three Titans races who once ruled the world: the Dragons, the Giants, and the Storm Lords. From these three races came the first three magics: fire, ice, and storm. Over time, magic continued to branch out and grow. The ones who channeled these powers were known as wizards, and among them was one young wizard that originated from a small island of the skyways who helped saved the Spiral many times: Jack Englund.

That is, until it was discovered he was once a pirate. It didn't matter that he had become a powerful Conjurer and saved worlds like Krokotopia, Marleybone, and even Wizard City, he was a pirate and that meant he couldn't be trusted and was expelled. Watching his wand snapped in two and his spell book revoked, he was living the second worst day of his life.

The first was when he lost his parents in a horrible storm when he was just six years old. Six years later and he was getting kicked out of Ravenwood, robbed of the magic he had grown to love. They wouldn't even let him keep his pet owl he adopted from Polaris! The only thing he had managed to save was a small pouch of gold of about one thousand coins.

With nowhere to go anymore, they took his home too, he used half of it too book passage home: Scrimshaw.

The island wasn't anything pretty: built under and around the skeleton of a long dead leviathan, it was one of the most infamous towns in the Skyway. A wretched hive of scum and villainy run by the Wharf Rat gangs.

God Jack missed it here.

Granted he was a good natured person, but his best friend, a young mouse from Flotsam named Sarah Steele, ran with a gang known as the Bilge Rats and would often bring him along in their mischief. That is until he was poofed away by Professor Ambrose a year ago. One whole year away and he never contacted them. What could go wrong?

Apparently a lot. Sarah left not too long after Jack did with his uncle Milo to try to find him, and the Bilge Rats saw her leaving as betrayal. They cursed her name and insulted her constantly. He had to endure it for three days and was getting angrier and angrier clenching his twin knives he kept on his belt tightly to control himself.

One day he was walking down the street wearing a blue long vest with matching blue boots and a tricorn hat on a bandana with a fishing pole in his hand to try to catch some batacuta for dinner when a Bilge Rat started talking about Sarah again.

"Good riddance, says I … that little trash fire might have done us all a favor and fall to the storm sharks" the rat said making Jack stop in his tracks before dropping his fishing pole and threw one of his knives at the rat, pinning him to the wall by his vest.

"Sarah Steele was better than any of you low lives" Jack said with a snarl as three more rats ganged up on all sides and the one he pinned to the wall pulled out the dagger and glared at Jack "wait … I know ye, you're that little runt that the '_Queen of the Underground_' hung around. Thought you croaked too" he said before throwing the dagger at Jack but the young pirate caught it with ease.

"You wanna talk bad about my best friend …. Then you'll have to take me down first" Jack said challenging them and stood in a battle stance. The rats all laughed but was quickly shocked when Jack used his knives to knock their swords out of their paws with a smirk. That got them to take him serious as they picked their blades up and rushed at him.

Jack had a grin on his face as he sidestepped and threw one of his knives at another rat before grabbing a rapier and dueled them at once with a sword and a knife. The fight was over in less than a few minutes and the rats were on the ground clutching their wounds as Jack glared down at them "next time … I won't hold back just cause Sarah liked being in your gang" he spat but then sensed someone behind him and instantly turned around bringing his sword down on his new opponent: a being in Valencian clothes wearing a carnival mask.

A clockwork Armada soldier.

"You have assaulted a soldier of the Armada. You are under arrest" it said in a monotone voice but then Jack sliced its head off as it fell to the ground with a loud thud "can't say I missed these guys" he said but then froze in place as ten more Armada soldiers marched over and pointed their musket sparkthrowers at him.

Glancing around, Jack couldn't risk a fight and get the townsfolk hurt, and knew they wouldn't lift a finger to help. Before he could so anything, something hit the young pirate on the back of the head knocking him out. As he fell, a single clockwork dressed in black with a mouthless bauta mask stood with a cane overlooking the fallen pirate "at last, we have found him" the clockwork said as two others marched over and grabbed Jack, taking him to their ship: _The Erebus_.

As they left, a single figure in one of the top balconies gazed down at the sight shrouded in shadows "still rash as ever …" he said shaking his head before turning to a frog that was next to him "find Boochbeard …. Do not use my name, tell him a very promising individual has just been captured by the Armada" he said before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / /

Jack groggily woke up gripping the back of his head checking for blood "I'm gonna be feeling that for a while …" he said noticing he was in a cell on a ship and winced still in pain and stood up. "You are awake?" A deep male voice said nearby as Jack shook his head to try to push on from the pain "yeah … splitting headache though, one of them knocked me out from behind." he said as the voice grunted

"clockworks … they have no honor in battle" he said as Jack was able to pinpoint the accent "you're from MooShu aren't you?" Jack asked as the voice grunted in conformation "i am … my name is Subodai, fierce warrior of the Amber Horde …. Until I was betrayed and sold as a slave" Subodai said with a defeated sigh.

Jack recalled tales of the Amber Horde when he went to MooShu to try to catch up with Malistare, they were a tribe of mighty horse warriors, barbarians the villagers called them. Though some parts he could agree with, it was only a fortnight ago that he was there and from what he saw that was left it wasn't very mighty. Though Subodai didn't sound like that.

"Jack Englund" he introduced and shrugged "I used to be a wizard till they expelled me … not very exciting but that's what you get for being a pirate first" he said as Subodai was silent, Jack could only imagine he was waiting "got thrown in here for dueling an Armada officer … well, accidentally anyway, long story" Jack said with a chuckle "well we have nothing but time now" Subodai reasoned making Jack nod with a shrug and sat on his cot before telling his tale.

When he was done, Subodai grunted "that was very honorable … were we in different circumstances, I would gladly follow you into battle" he said making Jack chuckle a bit until he heard a faint 'boom' and the ship rocked a bit "hold that thought" Jack said as the ship was pelted with more cannonballs.

Then he heard movement "who's there?" Jack cried then heard hissing "get down, it's gonna blow!" A voice called and Jack instantly fell to the floor before a loud explosion happened up to his left. "He's in one of these cells, check the ones down there monkey" the voice said as another spoke up after a cough "I'm on it" the monkey, Jack guessed, said in a Polarian accent.

A Monquistan from Polaria? That's rare. However sure enough came a monkey wearing a Polarian navy uniform and a cane looking in Jack's cell as the young pirate lifted his head "Capitaine, I found him!" He cried as another person, a human pirate with a white beard down to the top of his chest a hooked hand on his left wrist and an eyepatch on his left eye, came jogging up to the monkey and looked as well. "Hmm, hard to say … he's on me blind side" he said making Jack deadpan "then turn your head!" He said in exasperation and got up making the monkey chuckle but was hit on the head by the old pirate "that's enough Mr. Gandry" he said before looking at Jack sternly and asked for his name "Jack … Jack Englund" he said making the both of them back up a step in shock.

"Englund? B-but … zat cannot be" Gandry said as the old pirate seemed to think but another blast that shook the ship stopped the musing "we'll talk about it later, let's get ye out of this confounded cell" he said and grabbed a nearby lever and pulled, however the cell door only opened a tiny bit, not even enough to squeeze through. The old pirate tried pulling it "Gah! The bulkhead, she's … she's jammed" he said before letting go as the monkey looked worried "well NOW what are we going to do?" He asked just as another shot blasted the wall behind Jack, who luckily got out of the way in time.

"That'll work, I'll meet you on the other end" Jack said running out of the hole and down the hall before seeing an occupied cell: a horse dressed in leather armor and a strange hat on his head with a long mustache and goatee "Subodai? Good, you're alive" Jack said before spotting a leaver "go! You must escape" the warrior said but Jack shook his head "not without you" he said before running to the leaver and pulled it, opening the cell. Subodai, looking at Jack speechless, regained his composure and ran out to him "you have freed me … thank you" he said before another cannonball struck the hull "thank me later, lets go" he said as the two ran down the corridor to see the two rescuers.

"What took ye so long?" The pirate asked then saw Subodai "oh … erm, well let's get out of here" he said before running up the stairs. "Jack!" Subodai cried before tossing him a cutlass and a dagger before pulling out a large blade obviously from MooShu and nodded confidently making Jack nod back at him before they both ran up the stairs.

When they got to the deck, Jack saw they were rescued in the middle of a Storm Gate. Ahead of them, a single clockwork above them in black "ah, Boochbeard, i should have known you'd try to steal my prize! Hello, Mr. Englund … I am pleased to see you did not suffer any permanent damage from my cane" he said making Jack utterly confused "you know my name?!" He said as Mr. Gandry nodded "that is Deacon, Spymaster of the Armada … he does not go after average pirates" the monkey said but Jack just rolled his eyes "i feel so honored" he scoffed.

"Our jailer! Clockwork monster ..." Subodai said gritting his teeth and gripped his sword tighter before running towards the spymaster and jumping up to where he was "You will pay for putting Subodai in a cage!" he cried bringing his blade down but Deacon blocked it with his cane. "I think not" Deacon said unimpressed and flicked his cane forward to send Subodai back to the deck floor "it's high time you buffoons learned who you are trifling with. Take them, they must not be allowed to escape" He said in his monotonous voice as three new clockworks came down from the mainsail. They wore plated armor and wielded a sword and sparkthrower each, but the big difference was they had large working wings on their backs.

Battle Angels, the Armada's elite warriors.

"Well … this just got interesting" Jack said before rushing at one of the Angels and slashed it's chest exposing some gears before slicing diagonally at it. Smirking, Jack thought he got it dismantled but saw it was still standing and quickly sliced at him sending Jack backwards before shooting at him with its sparkthrower, hitting him in the arm. The other two were about to advance before Subodai got in the way of them and started dueling them.

Jack gritted his teeth thinking how Professor Drake would chastise him for leaving himself open like that. Closing his eyes, everything slowed to a crawl as he used his sharpest weapon: his mind. The whole bridge started to look like a chess board and he swore he saw the damage level of the Battle Angel he attacked, if he was right then one more attack would do it.

Clenching his dagger, Jack reared it back and tossed it to the enemy making it sink into its face, breaking its mask in half before falling backwards. Jack smirked and pulled his dagger out before turning to Subodai, who just took one down after slicing it twice before cleaving his blade down on it hard, and ran to the other one and stabbed it right in the backward and twisted it until he saw sparks.

When the last Battle Angel fell, Jack smirked as Subodai let out a cry of victory "excellent strike" Subodai praced making Jack chuckle "you're full of surprises yourself" he said but Deacon was unimpressed "you think you have won? I think not." he said before using his cane and activated a switch where he stood. Suddenly, the floor board below the two fighter's feet started moving making them jump off and beheld a startling sight: six large clockworks that looked like they could flatten them with their fists aiming large cannon-like sparkthrowers at them.

"What … what are zose?!" Mr. Gandry exclaimed as Jack and Subodai stood in their fighting stances again but Boochbeard only chuckled "oh don't bother …. LADS! FIRE!" Boochbeard shouted as he shot a flare in the air. Suddenly, Jack looked towards the other ship that was boarded onto the Armada ship and saw the cannons. "Get down!" Jack said grabbing Subodai and hit the ground just as the cannons fired and destroyed the clockworks and set off a series of explosions which Boochbeard himself was caught up in.

Looking to where Deacon was, the smoke hid most of him as he stared right at him "enjoy your freedom, Mr. Englund …." He said as the smoke got thicker and clouded the clockwork from view "while it lasts" Deacon said and then was gone.

Jack stumbled over to Boochbeard and Mr. Gandry as Subodai helped him carry them over to their ship and cut away the ropes just as _The Erebus _exploded and sunk into the unknown depths. As Jack took the helm, his rescuers woke up "well … zat did not go according to plan" Gandry asked as Boochbeard held his head and groggily got up and coughed "that blast nearly did me in, I can barely see" he said as Jack smiled "yes well at least you're alive … I got the helm, where are we going?" He asked as Mr. Gandry helped Boochbeard try to lay back down "Skull Island, it will take a few hours. I can take the helm from here, why don't you go below deck and see if we can find any clothes to fit you better" the monkey said hopping onto a crate that was in front of the wheel as Jack looked down.

His clothes were in tatters and his boots were barely put together anymore. Nodding, Jack went below and checked the hull at several pilfered crates from places in every corner of the Spiral, all with only a few things in them. "Either this guy is the luckiest pirate in the Spiral" he said looking through another crate to see only five gold coins in it before closing it "or the unluckiest" he said shaking his head then looked through a third crate and found some nice looking clothes and picked some out before finding some boots.

After a few minutes, Jack stood in front of a large mirror in his new garb: a blue and gold coat over a collared tunic with a chest belt and sash with a holster for a spare dagger at the shoulder, brown trousers, a rather fancy pair of blue boots with gold trims and a blue bicorne hat with a plume over a blue bandana to top it all off. Smirking slightly, Jack then picked up a new sword: Valencian design with a cross guard over the hilt and a better dagger and slipped them on his belt before walking back to the deck.

"You look well" Subodai said looking at him from the railing, his armor was patched up as well as his blade being sharpened and shined with a scarakete plume on the top of his hat. "You too" Jack complemented before joining him at the rails overlooking the skyways and saw all the passing worlds. "What will you do now that you're free?" Jack asked as Subodai looked at him as though he had lost his mind "what I said in the brig, I spoke the truth: I will follow you, Captain" he said making Jack chuckle.

"Captain? I don't have a ship" he said as Subodai grunted a nod "I-I don't have a crew or finances." He said earning another nod "I barely even know how to fight!" Jack said starting to get irritated "this is true" Subodai said either not noticing nor caring about his confusion so he just went ahead and asked: "why then"

Subodai remained silent as he gazed out to the stars in the Spiral. "The warrior others fear is not the one who is the strongest, but the one with the potential to be great. I feel like you will be great, and as for the other things-" he said before smirking and turned to him "you are clever, Jack Englund … you will figure it out" he said as Jack just smirked and shook his head "great, no pressure then" he said before taking a breath "welp, one thing is for sure, we need a ship" he said as Boochbeard walked towards them.

"A ship you say? Well then soon as we arrive at Skull Island, I know just the person" he said with a chuckle as the ship approached the Stormgate and instantly saw sky, shooting up vertically and then leaned forward flowing in the skyway seeing seas of clouds. In front of them was a large floating island with a large skull shaped mountain looming over it.

"So that is Skull Island" Subodai said nodding sternly "aptly named" he said as Jack nodded in agreement and the ship flew into port "find Captain Avery, he's an ol' friend of mine. Always hiring pirates for one scheme or another, and good pay too. He'll help you out" Boochbeard said as Jack shook his hand "thank you, Captain Boochbeard … I don't know how we could repay you" he said but Boochbeard just chuckled "eh, it was a job, think nothin of it. And no i can't tell ya his name, he sent a middleman anyway" he said as Jack, though disappointed at this information, nodded and climbed off the ship watching it fly off.

"So, where is this Captain Avery?" Subodai asked as Jack looked up at the stairway up to town "well when in doubt … start at the top." he said as the two climbed the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**Clever Jack Englund**

It was a quaint little town, mostly shops and some inns with a tavern (The Kraken Skulls), but otherwise, Jack could understand why it was a haven port for pirates. Up ahead was a large fort at the top of the island, their destination, Jack figured that if Captain Avery was as influential as Boochbeard claimed, he'd be somewhere overlooking the island. Subodai hardly ever kept his blade in his belt and kept it out at all times, glaring at passers

"a place where pirates gather, this is simultaneously smart and foolish" the horse warrior proclaimed as Jack nodded "yeah but we're not here to judge, right now the Armada is after us and we need to get better into pirating in order to keep going. One of which is to get a ship" Jack said but Subodai was still cautious "you deal with words, Captain. I shall rely on my steel" he said, making Jack shrug as they headed up the stairs to a large courtyard that had several buildings, one of which was a large mansion at the top.

"Well if my words aren't enough, we'll see how your way of dealing with things work" Jack said as Subodai just smirked but then froze with an ear twitching and grabbed Jack as they ran to the mansion just as a large keg of gunpowder landed where they were and exploded leaving a rain of pavement where it was. Glancing at Subodai, Jack raised his eyebrows "why do I have the feeling that things are going to get much more complicated?" He said as the two went inside.

/ / / / / / / / / / /

Inside was a beautiful home with exotic treasures from every corner of the Spiral, some Jack recognized and some he didn't. If it weren't for another bombardment hitting near the mansion, Jack might have wanted to look around, but this place was in trouble and he smelled opportunity.

Jack and Subodai went further in to see a man in a green embroidered governor's attire, white wig and all, standing next to a desk where a large tattooed brown male hammerhead shark stood with a large blade in front of him. A female raccoon with two blades on either side of her belt wearing a long coat and very fancy attire stood to the sharks right, next to her was a human woman with a gypsy-like dress with slightly messy hair and a crystal ball in her hand. Next to the man in the wig's left was a pelican with a long coat and vest with brown trousers and a bicorn hat holding a large sparcubus and had a magnified scope patched to his left eye. On his right was an old sheep dog in naval officer attire trying to look important and muttering to himself.

"The Troggies are getting bolder! Now they have stolen our entire warehouse of gunpowder and flinging it back at us!" The man in the wig exclaimed as a keg landed close to the mansion making the chandler shake. "we'd fire back but not even I can tell where they are" the pelican stated making the shark nod "we need to get closer to locate them." he said in a thick* accent. "Perhaps, our solution is close" the crystal ball woman said as the wig man looked to her seriously "do you foresee something, Madame Vadima?" He asked as Vadima closed her eyes and lifted the crystal

"Of course, Avery …. I see a pirate, a newcomer, one with the legacy of gold shall arrive to stop the attack and drive Fin from Skull Cave" she said as Avery's eyes grew wide "where? Where is this pirate? Find him!" He cried as Vadima chuckled "he is here …. About ten feet from us" she said as they all turned to see Jack, who was trying hard not to smirk, with Subodai who was crossing his arms, his sword clenched in his left hand.

Avery cleared his throat and tried to compose himself "ah … I apologize, young pirate, I didn't-" he said but Jack just nodded "I might have guessed you were a bit distracted. Allow me to introduce myself: Jack Englund" he said making the others look surprised, but the raccoon quickly smiled warmly and whispered to Avery who quickly nodded "alright, you heard Madame Vadima, you five go back to try to do damage control. I'll speak with … Mr. Englund" he said as the five walked past Jack and left while Jack started to explain his story.

/ / / / / / / / / /

Jack Englund.

Morgan LaFitte didn't think she'd find that person on Skull Island. From what her sister-in-arms, Sarah Steele, he wanted nothing to do with piracy, even if he had the smarts to be a great swashbuckler. Yet here he was and Morgan could tell this was going to become quite interesting.

"Morgan!" A young female mouse cried as she ran up to her and stopped to catch her breath. She had on a blue vest over a long white blouse that went a bit past her hips, a fancy brown belt with a rapier sword and dagger hanging off it, brown trousers and boots with a three layered bandana over her orangey red hair. "You're not going to … whew …" she said making Morgan giggle "it must have been quite something for you to run all the way from the docks" the raccoon said in a slight polarian accent as the mouse nodded and showed a dusty old empty Yum* bottle. Morgan wasn't very impressed until she noticed papers inside "Morgan …. It's the will" she said with a wide smile which Morgan slowly shared. "Magnifiqué! Here, in the training hall, I have news to tell you as well"

/ / / / / / / / / / /

Jack was starting to get annoyed.

He had to fight Troggies and Cutthroats to make his way to skull cave after Mr. Livsey, a frog who worked for Avery, found Fin was hidden in a temple built in the cave waiting for the buyer of the Jade amulet the shark stole from Avery. Jack wasn't sure he'd trust Avery, the way he acted just screamed 'trick' and he grew up around rats to know when he was being swindled.

Subodai felt the same about the pirate governor. When they left the governor's mansion, he voiced his opinion that they should prepare to be tricked. "If, and most likely, when that happens Subodai then we will fall back on your method of negotiating" Jack said making the horse warrior smirk.

Even their newest crewmember; a female fox sharpshooter named Bonnie Anne, seemed uneasy "he promised you a ship if you got his amulet back?" She asked after Jack told her why he was helping as they approached the mouth of the cave. "Oh I'm sure he'll go back on his word" Jack said dismissively but Bonnie shook her head. "Avery might be a few things but he doesn't go back on his word … technically" she said with a small shrug.

Jack smirked slightly before walking into the cave to see old ruins that he recognized "Aztecan …. They were here" he said making Subodai glance at him "you know who built this place?" He asked but Jack shrugged "sort of … it's a dead world now. I just hope some of them survived" he said then glanced at Subodai and Bonnie who looked concerned but Jack took in a deep breath and glanced around "right, lets see if we can find a way into this temple" he said as the three split up to find a hidden door or something.

"Cap'n!" Bonnie called from behind the waterfall as the other two ran towards her to see a vine covered entrance. Instantly, Subodai made three slashes at the obstacle, shredding it into strands on the floor then turned to Jack who saw he had hands on his blades and let go "oh … you wanted-" he started but Jack shook his head dismissively "no it's fine … besides we got through" he said making Subodai nod and they all went inside.

"You know, maybe building a temple next to a waterfall wasn't a good idea." Jack said as the three of them waded through the flooded temple with water up to their mid-lower legs. As the continued through the temple, they found a large area with deep water. "That water is too deep and too fast to swim through" Bonnie said as Subodai snarled "there has to be a way, Fin must not escape!" He said as Jack gazed at the murky depths before grabbing his sword and spun around bringing his blade on another one. One that belonged to a dog in captain's garb.

"Easy there, friend … you must be the ones Livsey sent." the dog said as both he and Jack sheathed their blades. "Sergeant Shepard, glad Avery sent some help, we certainly could use it against Fin, luckily for us, I found a way to get to him. There's a shrine that should drain the water as soon as you hit the switches there, but the Troggies are real cozy-" he said but Jack got the picture "so you need someone to clear them out, aye?" He asked, making Sgt. Sheppard nod to him "well if it means one step closer to Fin, then fine"

As they headed to where Sheppard said the Troggie Shrine was, Jack started humming a tune he remembered as a child that his dad used to sing. It sounded silly to him cause it didn't sound anything like how they were, maybe it was a warning about bad pirates? "Shiver my timbers/ shiver my soul/ yo-ho heave ho … there are men whose hearts are as black as coal/ yo-ho heave ho-" he muttered but jumped when Bonnie spoke up "what are ya singin' over there Cap'n?" She asked curiously. "oh, nothing … just … song that popped into my head … my parents taught me a few before-" he said then hesitated but Bonnie just smiled "well when we get a bigger crew and a ship, you'll have to teach us some songs" she said making Jack laugh, a good genuine laugh, something he hadn't done in a while. "Yeah … but for now, I'll need your shooting skills rather than your singing ones" he said then turned to Subodai who grinned "it has been a while since I sang"

/ / / / / / / / / / / / /

After finally defeating the Troggie chief making the tribe surrender, the three pirates activated the hidden switches on the large ruined towers surrounding a larger tower. When it went all the way down, it was like a drain in a sink causing almost all the water to be pulled down. "Well … that was … weird." Jack said, making the other two nod and left the shrine seeing the halls all dry, minus a few puddles here and there. After closer inspection, Jack noticed that on the sides of the walls were small grates, like an ancient sewer system that had been activated. "Well, if it's dry here then it might have worked where Fin is" Bonnie said as they huffed back to where Sgt. Sheppard was and saw the pool of water was indeed gone.

Sheppard went in with them to the ancient throne room where a bunch of cutthroat sharks were as the doors closed behind them. A lone shark stood out: he wore a sleeveless black shirt with brown trousers and had tribal tattoos on his arms, a pair of goggles over his eyes with two scythe-like daggers for weapons "Ah … Avery's new lapdog. You made three mistakes today, kid. First was taking this job, second was you didn't bring an army with you" Fin said but Jack was unimpressed "certainly think highly of yourself … go on then, what was my last mistake?" He asked but the shark smirked "last? Don't fight me in the dark" he said as, just when he said that, the holes that shined light from the outside were covered, coating the room in darkness.

"Because the dark is where I shine" he said as everyone drew their weapons and shifted their eyes to try to find their marks. "Cowards … they hide in shadows instead of fighting with honor" Subodai said glaringly as Jack snarled but then got an idea when he heard Fin laugh "coward? Me? I'm the one whose going to turn Skull Island to rubble and have Avery bowing at my feet" Fin said as Jack smirked a bit

"keep him talking" he whispered low to the others which thankfully they heard. "Avery at yer feet, eh?" Bonnie started "how original, next you'll be sayin ya want to take over the skyways" she said as Fin snarled "why wouldn't I? I'll have the power, and with the money I'll get for his Jade Amulet-" Fin said but was stopped mid-sentence and a loud thud was heard along with the sounds of a few legs running. In a few seconds, the lights were back and Fin was on the ground with one of Jack's knives in his shoulder and next to a pillar. Apparently when he was hit, the momentum caused him to fall over and knocked himself out.

"Well … that was easy" Sgt. Sheppard said as he went to pick the shark up and clapped him in irons "it helps when the guy doesn't know when to shut up" Jack said and then looked on the floor to see the Jade Amulet and picked it up. "One Jade Amulet acquired" he said with a smirk and put it in his pouch but was startled when Fin spoke up "I-I want you to remember this moment, kid … the moment where you won your first victory, and made your worst enemy" he said but then Sgt. Sheppard smacked the shark in the back of the head "ah, shut yer jaws! I'll take this bully and get him back to the fort, you go on back to Avery. Good job today, hope we meet again" he said leaving the room as Jack fell to the floor and started laughing. "What is so funny?" Subodai asked, making Jack shake his head "just that … if Fin is my worst enemy, then I'm gonna be very disappointed from now on" he said continuing his laughing as Subodai and Bonnie joined in, chuckling.

/ / / / / / / / / / /

It took awhile but they finally got back to the fort and headed to the governor's mansion and saw Avery with a chained up Fin in the corner, it looked like an argument had happened. Noticing the newcomers, Avery put on his best (fake) smile and opened his arms in welcome. "Ah! Mr. Englund … or perhaps I should say Captain Englund now? Do you have-" he said but Jack already pulled the amulet out. "Ah … Sgt. Sheppard was right, you are a clever one … "Clever" Jack Englund, nice ring don't you say?" Avery said with a chuckle and took the amulet examining it "and you didn't even try to swap my amulet for a fake … what are you, an honest pirate?" Avery joked but Jack only smirked knowingly.

"I did my part, now as for my ship-" Jack said as Avery gave an exaggerated 'ahhh' with a nod "yes, your ship. A deal is a deal, here … take this writ to Dockmaster Dab and he'll see to it, farewell to ye, Captain Clever Jack Englund!" Avery said as Jack took the writ while the other two followed him out. Avery then wiped some sweat from his brow then looked to Fin who was out cold again and shook his head. He needed to fix this, Fin nearly ruined his chance to make Skull Island a republic, hopefully his plan would work. Now he just needed to find the best pirate for the job.

As soon as they reached the dockmaster, Jack gave him the writ and saw Dan get a huge grin on his face "ah, you're the one Avery sent to claim a boat. Congratulations, you're the owner of that mighty ship!" He said pointing a thumb to a magnificent sight: a Monquistan Skiff: painted blue with gold railings, twelve guns, and beautiful white sails. Jack's face broke into a huge grin thinking maybe he was wrong. As the three started for the ship, Dan stopped them. "Oh, I'm sorry … this one was in the way, your ship is right …" Dan said walking further down the dock. Jack's heart sank as he followed and saw a pathetic raft tied over some barrels with a sail that looked more like a bedsheet in the middle and just one cannon that looked rusted. "There … Ha! You'll be the terror of the Skyways in that! Ha-ha-ha!" Dan said walking off.

Bonnie and Subodai exchanged glances before looking at their captain who was still staring down at the pathetic thing in front of them in silence with his hat covering his eyes. Jack knew something like this would happen, he knew! But it still hurt. "Subodai …?" Jack asked in a deathly calm and quiet voice. "I want you to do me a favor." Jack said as the horse nodded. "Go to Avery … and give him a subtle hint that I am not satisfied with our arrangement, I'll be there shortly … Bonnie can you go with him?" he said with a shaky voice and both of them knew he might start crying and was trying to be strong so they nodded and left.

Jack stood on the dock silently and grabbed a hold of a pendant that was around his neck, one that had a great horned owl on it, the only tangible thing he had left of his parents. "I got away from the pirate life for a while … then I get dragged back in. Mom, Dad …. I promise I'll live up to your example" Jack said looking up at the upper skies, and he meant every word. But right now? He was far too angry to play fair.

He turned around with his hands behind his back, his face one of stern calmness and calculated planning and slowly made his way up the docks giving the dockmaster a shiver.

***The thick accent the shark has is pretty much Jamaican. As for Bonnie, her accent is Scottish.**


End file.
